


Nine Lives

by Luminessence_66



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Blood and Injury, Injured Lance (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, M/M, Self-Sacrifice, Team as Family, lance dies a lot, lots of different ways to die in space, oml trying to write angst is hard
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-16
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-03-19 14:08:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13706043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luminessence_66/pseuds/Luminessence_66
Summary: Voltron, after freeing a planet inhabited by cat-like aliens, don't notice when Lance gets pulled aside to get gifted with one of the planet's greatest treasures. The ability to die 9 times and come back to life. However, each death will take a toll on the user's quintessence until they have died 9 times for the spell to be lifted. With his self-sacrificing self, you know Lance's going to be taking advantage of this.-----------------------------------------------------------------Alternatively;9 injured lance fics combined into one where he actually dies. also the team absolutely flips out over it.P.S. This is before Shiro goes missing so everyone is in their original lions and positions





	1. Prologue

Lance limped out of his lion, still a bit dazed about what happened. On their mission to free plant Lio'mew, Blue had taken a hit from a laser for the Castleship. The impact of the blast made everything feel fuzzy, but what he could definitely hear were the people's cheers once he stepped out of Blue. Hunk basically sprinted over to him, squishing him in a tight hug. 

" LANCE. I mean, I know you had to take that hit but we were sooooo worried!" Lance smiled, his vision a bit blurry. 

" No problem dude. Now..." His voice strained over the tightness of the bear hug. " You know I need to breathe, right? " 

"Oh!" Hunk promptly set Lance down and told him to follow, because the people were celebrating their freedom by holding a big feast. Lance's stomach grumbled as he thought of it, and he giddily was dragged over by Hunk the dull ache almost forgotten because he was _hungry_.

Pidge, who was currently sitting on the table examining a Lio'mew's ears, looked up to see Lance and Hunk approaching. " Hey Lance! Are you okay...?" She immediately noticed his dazed expression and squinted her eyebrow, a bit worried for the teammate she came to know and love as a brother.

" Everything's fine Pidge! All good in the hood! " He immediately striked a pose, trying not to think about the sting that came from the sudden movement. 

Pidge rolled her eyes and continued looking at the Lio'mew's ears, spitting out questions left and right about their bone structure, functionality, and what it feels like to have one. " Does it feel weird when your ears hit the ceiling? Can you stretch them? Do you hear better than us? " Lance could practically see the poor subject sweat a bit. Hunk gave a good-hearted chuckle and pulled out a chair for Lance to sit in.

" Thanks, my dude. I kinda wanna explore this absolutely purrr-fect planet though! Call me on the coms when it's time for dinner! " He took off before Hunk could answer.

Lance, a little less dazed, walked down the street of the feline planet. It smelled distinctly of fish, and the strange seafood ( seriously, there were fish that were as big as him! ). As he sat down on a bench to ease his strained muscles, a child Lio'mew with striking gold eyes walked up to him. She tilted her head and asked; " Are you the Blue Paladin, mister? "

" Why yes I am, little lady. Do you need something? " Lance was confused. Usually the inhabitants of the planet came to Shiro or Allura to give their thanks. 

Her resolve strengthening, she replied, " We thank you very much for saving us from Emperor Zarkon! Um... My family saw how you put your life on the line for your team... and... uh.." She stuttered a bit and looked at the ground. " They w-would like to give you one of our family heirlooms. Grandmama said that i-it might help you protect your team." She held out a small, simple bracelet weaved together with twine. it had 9 small heart beads, each glowing softly as if they were pulsing with life. Lance stared at the bracelet in wonder, and gently took it from the Lio'mew's tiny hand. 

" Thank you very much. " He said softly. He took off one of his wrist-plates and tied the bracelet around his left wrist, tightening in place. Suddenly, Hunk told him dinner was starting through the coms. Placing the wrist-plate back on, he crouched down and pat the child on the head with a smile. " Send your Grandmama my best regards! " He waved her goodbye and walked back to the dinner table, the bracelet cool against his wrist.


	2. Anything But The Airlocks!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the name suggests, we get into some trouble with airlocks.

" Paladins! Wake up! It is time for another day of training! " Allura excitedly yelled over the comms. The Paladins grumbled as they suited up and met her at the training deck, all of them grumbling ( except for Shiro, the trooper he is ). They'd stayed up all night ( in castle time ) at a party where Allura and Coran were able to convince a new planet to join the coalition. 

Pidge, who was still wiping the sleep out of her eyes, asked wearily, " Soooooo, what are we doing today princess? " Hunk mumbled that they didn't even get to eat breakfast. Keith, usually stoic and less tired than everyone else, was also drained of energy and had a disinterested look on his face. Lance was smoothing out his bedhead, as he didn't get the chance to comb it beforehand.

" Today we're going to be using the simulator to see how you guys fight in different environments. Coran! " Coran, with the space mic hovering over different buttons with Altean markings, made a signal and Plachu jumped on it. In an instant, the arena around them transformed into a massive jungle, with trees and vines that towered over them with vibrant plants and undergrowth everywhere. Pidge immediately brightened up and started trying to see how the virtual machine worked. 

" Woah! Virtual technology to this extent? All the textures feel real and different! What's the coding behind this? Maybe it could make my holograms more realistic using the properties of this hypervisor! " Hunk leaned in to take a look, also intrigued by the intricate programming.

" Is it just me, or does something smell funny? " Lance said, noticing the sharp tang of rotting flesh. This nose scrunched up as soon as it reached them. 

" Of course! That's a gladiator disguised as a creature of the Ail'Aoili Jungles of Altea; the Stapelia! " As if on cue, a giant ant-like creature with a star shaped mouth dripping with acid burst through the trees, hissing at Keith, who promptly tried to stab it. The sword seemed to plunge into the thing, but was soon ejected out Into Keith's stomach dripping of acid. Lance and Hunk let out a high-pitched scream and Lance scrambled up a tree while Hunk dove into the bushes.

Shiro was barking orders out, standing in front of Keith with his shield out so he could gather his bearings. " Pidge, try to sneak around and look for a vulnerable spot! Lance, provide backup from above! Hunk, try to get a better shot! We can do this, team! " He grunted as he pushed against the creature's gaping jaws, his Galra arm activating. 

Soon, Pidge's bayard was wrapped around the creature, trying to shock it but it seemed like it did nothing. Lance was frantically shooting at it's tail, scales flicking off on every blast. Hunk had found out that it's weak spot was on it's tail, and was trying to slowly get around the beast without attracting their attention. Shiro and Keith kept it distracted from the front; diverting attention and keeping its eyes on them. Hunk sent a powerful shot at the tail, and the beast fell still. They all collectively sighed as the jungle faded away back into their familiar arena, the poles that were supposed to act as trees retreating into the floor. Unfortunately, Lance didn't notice until it was too late, and he fell down with an " oomph! " Hunk ran over to lift him up. 

" You good dude?"

" Yep! Okie-dokie!" Lance popped up from the floor, feeling like he bruised something but he didn't want to burden the team so he just winked at Allura. " But are you okay? 'Cause you looked like you fell from-" 

" Lance. " Shiro, exasperated by both the fight and the Cuban boy, sighed and continued. " Allura, I think this is fine for today. Let's take a break, everyone!" The paladins walked out, muscles straining.

However, none of them noticed the Galra drone that was stowed away on their ship, making its way to the crystal.

\------------------------------------

_Lance_

Lance sighed in relief when he put the ice to his side. He definitely bruised something from falling from that height. Blue had an annoyed mew in his mind about his decision to hide it from the team. Lance reassured her it was totally fine. Allura should really warn them next time she shuts off the virtual reality. He flattened the icepack so it wouldn't look too noticeable, and tied it to his waist using his jacket to hide it. He stretched, ready to go on Lance Patrol. Lance Patrol/Make sure everyone's taking care of themselves Patrol is when he'd circle the castle, seeing if anyone ( Yes, even Keith ) needed help around the castle. 

First stop; Shiro. He seemed busy making plans with Allura so Lance just left a water bottle at his door, just in case. Next stop; Hunk. Lance joined him while he was baking, trying to make pie of the interesting alien ingredients. " Sometimes I wish I had flour and sugar again.... " he sighed as he cracked a blue and white spotty egg into the mix. Lance was whisking the dry ingredients together. 

" Wanna talk about it, bro?" Hunk sighed. 

" No, dude, it's fine. " Hunk went back to his mixing. Lance raised his brow, suspicious, but let him be.

Lance was on his way to Pidge; stop three shaking pie crumbs out of his shirt when he heard a squeal coming from the launch bay so he sprinted over to see a half Gladiator- half monster thing ( the thing they fought this morning ) backing Pidge into a corner. All his instincts told him he needed to get that thing away from pidge so he charged at it and tackled it to the floor. " Pidge, RUN! " he yelled before hopping off the creature and booking it after Pidge, closing the bay door behind him. They seemed to make an escape, so they ran to the arena to grab their bayards when a resounding hiss- no, hisses, were heard from the hallway and they burst in; at least three of them filling the room with rotten stench. 

Lance sucked in a breath before he picked up Pidge, who was now piggybacking on him and murmuring theories on how this happened and ran through a small gap between the Gladimonsters ( a name he just made up ) and ran, trying to get to the control room where he last saw Shiro and Allura. At this point it was just his unlucky day because _even more_ appeared around the corner, effectively sandwiching the two paladins between them. Lance panicked, frantically looking around for a way to weasel out of this situation. Pidge squeaked in terror, frozen and arms tightening around Lance. They couldn't fight, the whole Voltron team had to work together to take down _one_. They couldn't jump over them, they were too tall; Distract them while Pidge gets away? They're already closing in; she might be caught. He looked to the one thing beside him. The airlock. They won't be able to get through, would they? Ask blue for help? Lance searched his mind quickly but found no trace of her. Lance had no time to debate over this as one nearly bit off a chunk of his leg. He slammed the button and jumped in with Pidge. The airlock shut, effectively locking the monsters out, who were banging against the glass.

Lance let out an airy breath, setting Pidge down. All that running set off his forgotten bruise, and he winced. Pidge immediately noticed this. " You okay?"

" Y-yeah, must've landed on my ankle weird. " Lance sighed and sat up. The small peace between them didn't last long when a robotic female voice burst out: " Airlock activating. Prepare for ejection. " Lance jumped a bit but settled down. They had their armor, they should be fine- and then he noticed the crack in Pidge's visor. From the last mission, a Galra was able to crack it with their fist. Pidge and Lance's eyes widened in surprise and horror. Oh no. nonononononono. Pidge couldn't survive out in space with a cracked visor! Lance heard the door start to suck them into space and decided what he had to do. He grabbed Pidge, and swapped their helmets before she could pull him off. Then he kicked her away from him so she couldn't try to reswap them. He gave her a sad smile before they were ejected into the cold, dark galaxy.

Pidge was freaking out. What did Lance just do? WHY would he do it? Her mind was buzzing and she had no time to react before the airlock opened, sending her out. She saw Lance right there, floating in space. She couldn't do anything! They were in zero-G with nothing to push off of. She desperately reached for him to no avail, and tears gathered in her eyes when she realized there was nothing she could do.

\--------------------------------------------

Keith ran to Allura and Shiro the second he saw those things. Hunk was there, seemingly traumatized and freaking out because Lance and Pidge weren't there- wait. Lance and Pidge weren't there? There was no time to dwell on it because Allura found there was an unidentified entity on the quintessence crystal and they rushed into the elevator to get to the control room. Coran and the mice stayed to try and lockdown the arena so more couldn't arrive. The Galra drone was effectively attached onto the ship, sending viruses into the castle's coding like the Galra crystal from Sendak. Keith was able to put a stop to it by slicing it in half, but they would have to destroy the rest of the monstrous creations before everything went back to normal. Together, they were able to cut through the rest of the monsters after a long process of dragging them out one by one and immediately attacking the tail. They noticed a bunch of them trying to break through the airlock and promptly took care of them. They were all horrified to see Lance and Pidge floating out in space, Pidge curled up into a ball and Lance unsettlingly still. 

They brought them back into the ship. Keith realized quickly Lance had swapped his helmet with Pidge and hadn't been able to get air for the last 15 minutes. His eyes widened at that fact and the world seemed to stop moving. Hunk's wails about how Lance wasn't breathing faded into the background as they tried to resuscitate their Blue Paladin. 

_It was dark since he passed out due to low oxygen._  
It was cold....  
so, so, cold. 

_But then, there was warmth!_  
The heirloom bracelet seemed to know it was time to activate.  
A small crack drained the life out of one of the hearts. 

_And then there was a heartbeat.  
_

It had been 3 days since Lance stopped breathing. The team was dysfunctional. Pidge wouldn't stop staring at her computer for anything, looking for anything that could bring Lance back. Keith was training nonstop, with nobody to challenge him or make him take a break when he needed it; he fought until his muscles couldn't take anymore. Allura and Coran were still trying to make sure that it would never happened again and were putting more security on the castle, really, anything to distract themselves from the fact their Lance may never wake up. Hunk had been crying for the 3 days, refusing to accept his best friend might be dead. Shiro was trying to stay strong for the team, but he realized that Lance also affected him and the team in a way that he didn't understand and he found himself missing his jokes, no matter how terrible they may be. Blue was silent for the 3 days. She wouldn't activate for anything or anyone. 

One day, Blue activated with a resounding roar that echoed through the castle. Moments later, Lance started breathing again. The team were ecstatic, each barreling on top of him in a massive dogpile and group hug, Keith hanging back a bit, still not used to physical contact. " Awwwww, did you guys miss me? " Lance smiled, he didn't think he would actually get another chance at life.

" YES! " Hunk and Pidge wailed as they hugged Lance as tight as they could.

The day went on and everyone kept close tabs on Lance, acting as if he could just disappear at any moment. Keith felt something tug at the back of his mind. What it was, he didn't know yet.

_8 lives left._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hint: Blue couldn't communicate with Lance because of the corrupted quintessence crystal.


	3. A Burning Issue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry! School was busy and I kinda forgot about this fix for a while. Don’t worry, I’ll try to catch up since I’ll have a bunch of time over spring break.

After the infamous airlock incident, the team wouldn’t let go of Lance for a while. Pidge was especially clingy, the little gremlin making every excuse to be as close to Lance as they could get. Hunk had a much higher hug quota, and basically flipped out whenever the two friends got close to an airlock. Shiro was grateful to have Lance back with them, and offered more support and complements than he usually would. Allura and Coran were dead-set on making sure the castle was secure and free of the glitches so the incident wouldn’t happen again, and even the mice spent more time with Lance than usual. Keith was more open to the competitions and jokes Lance would stir up every once in a while, and the whole incident eventually faded into an old memory.

All in all, it was nice, Lance thought as they descended down through the Green Lion ( It was the easiest to land on the overgrown planet ) to a forest community of aliens called the Gro’hir, who they had recently come in contact with because Allura wanted them as part of the Coalition. Most of the afternoon was spent preparing for the diplomatic mission. Lance rubbed some dust off his paladin armor before the Green Lion’s mouth opened up.

——————————————————————

The view was breathtaking. The planet was covered with green, with swirling rivers and lush forests. Hunk uttered an awed “ Woaaaaahhhhhh! “ under his breath as they stepped out into the clearing. A minty green lizard-like humanoid approached them, holding a basket of strange fruits.

“ Welcome Paladins of Voltron, to the planet of Gro’hir! “ The crowd behind him erupted with shouts of welcome and greetings. 

Allura waved politely and cheerfully talked to the alien. “ Hello! We thank you for this most gleeful welcome! Anyways, we were looking to speak with your leader about-“

She didn’t get to finish her sentence before the Galra ships approaching started shooting. 

The forest was set aflame, and the citizens started panicking, yelling, and everything was consumed in the chaos. Allura, reacting quickly, shouted orders over the widespread panic. “Pidge! Get the paladins back to the Castleship to get to their lions! I’ll see what I can do here! “ She ran towards a fleet of what seemed to be the fire brigade attempting to put out the fire that had already encompassed much of the greenery around the clearing. 

Dobashes later, all of the lions split up to try and tame the fires that had already spread far and wide across the planet. Red and Yellow teamed up to take out the Galra fleets shooting at the planet, while the Blue, Green, and Black Lions tried to control the fire. Shiro was talking into the comms rapidfire. 

“ Lance, use your ice beam to slow down the fire. Pidge, try to evacuate as many citizens as you can. I’ll keep the wooden buildings from falling. “

“ Got it! “ yelled Lance as he scanned the area, looking for the worst fires. 

————————————-

The Galra ship was destroyed, and Hunk and Keith flew down to help with the effort to put out the fire. Suddenly, Lance spotted a group of Gro’harian children and teachers near a huge building that seemed like it was a school, on fire. He flew down and emitted through his speakers; “What’s happening over here? “ as he flew over. The building, he knew, would topple over if he landed his lion near it and he didn’t want to freeze the building if there were civilians in there. He put on his helmet and dropped down of Blue’s mouth, toward the scene. 

A female Gro’harian despaired. “ There are children still in there! We need to help them! “ Lance immediately straightened and said, “Don’t worry ma’am, we’ll get them out safe and sound. “ He pulled up his comms and asked Hunk and Shiro for backup before running straight towards the burning school.

“ I’m coming, buddy! “ Hunk shouted as he abruptly turned Yellow and dashed toward Lance’s coordinates, notice Shiro right behind him. They dropped down and ran inside just as Lance waved his arm out the window on the 2nd floor. 

“ They’re in here! I’m going to need some help carrying them out! “ He turned and whispered to the kids, who were wailing and obviously petrified. “ Don’t worry, Big Brother Lance is going to get you guys outta here, got that? “ The children nodded feebly, some wiping their tears away, coughing under the harsh smoke surrounding them. Lance picked up a girl and boy and rushed downstairs, knowing it wouldn’t be long until the burning building collapsed on them. 

Now there was only one child left to save. Lance volunteered to get the last one while Hunk and Shuro double-checked the school to make sure there weren’t any more children stuck in the building. Lance barely dodged a flaming board that fell before dashing up where the last kid was sitting in the corner, huddled up into a ball. Carefully, whispering soft words of encouragement, Lance scooped the kid up and bolted for the stairs. Shiro and Hunk gave the affirmative and they all headed for the exit. Suddenly, the building creaked and Hunk was almost out the window when the building’s roof started falling. 

Lance knew that he couldn’t let Hunk and this kid get crushed. Without thinking, he shoved the kid into Hunk’s arms and pushed Hunk out the window. 

Hunk didn’t have time to scream before the whole thing came crashing down on Lance.

————————————————————

_6 hours before_

“HUNK. YOU ARE A GENIUSSSS.” Lance basically shrieked when he saw what was for lunch. Burritos. Sure, they were a weird reddish-purple color but there was no mistaking it. They were burritos. 

Keith flinched. “ Dude, do you want to break our eardrums or something? “ He huffed in annoyance, secretly hiding a grin since he used to love eating Chipotle burritos. 

Hunk chuckled, embarrassed. “ Aw, thanks buddy. But maybe next time you could praise my with a little less screaming. “ 

Pidge righted their glasses, furiously nodding in agreement. 

Shiro almost dropped his mug full of tea at the sound. Blinking twice, he righted himself and sat down. Lance seemed to steady his breathing. “ Sorry, sorry.... I just- Burritos were like, my favorite thing back at home. “ He beamed, remembering the cries of joy in the household when Mama announced it was burrito night. He sat down eagerly and took the burrito in both hands, mouth open wide. Biting into it reminded him of home.

The whole table was a bit more light as Lance recounted a story about Luis, his brother, who attempted to make home cooked burritos and ended up setting off a fire alarm. “ Mama was sooooo mad at him after that. He was scolded into the next century! The “burritos” “ Lance air quoted, “ Luis made were basically blobs of black by then. “ 

The whole table laughed. Lance grinned with glee. He was happy that he was able to cheer up his space family since preparing for the landing on Gro’har had been so stressful. The atmosphere was light and playful, and Lance almost felt that he could call this place home.

——————————————-

The next heart on his bracelet burst into flames, only leaving a charred shell of what it used to be. 

Lance, driven out of his unconsciousness, could vaguely hear the desperate calls of Shiro and Hunk as they searched the wreckage. His mind was swirling with heat. Heat, fire, flame; it clouded his confused and hazy mind as he felt the smoke refill his lungs. He let out a pitiful coughing fit, descending into wheezes and a small trickle of blood dripping from his lips. “ Lance! “ He could hear the concern in Shiro’s voice, and he wanted to do something, anything, to let Shiro know he was there but his muddled mind wouldn’t let his body move. His eyes were shut, not having the energy to open them. He could hear footsteps and something being lifted off his chest. His breathing slowed just a little bit, as he hadn’t realized the pressure that was in his chest. 

“ Hunk! I found Lance! H-He doesn’t look good... “ Shiro was shell shocked at the state his friend was in. Most of Lance’s skin was charred and he had several bruises along his face, hands, and knees. He tentatively reached out to see if he could pick him up, but that only got him a hiss of pain from Lance. Immediately pulling back, he could hear Hunk approach and consequently vomit at the sight of Lance. Trembling, Shiro turned on his comms and contacted the castleship. “ C-Coran? Lance needs medical assistance, ASAP. He was caught in the collapse of a burning building while trying to save some kids with us. H-He.. It looks really bad. “ 

Coran seemed to pause, digesting the information, before grimly replying; “Roger that. Send me his coordinates and stay with him. “ He turned to rush to the medbay and get supplies for Lance’s retrieval. Apparently the rest of the team heard the news too, because the comma erupted with questions and panic. 

Hunk’s knees felt weak after vomiting. Shiro lent him a comforting pat on the back. “ Stay calm Hunk. We have to focus on helping Lance now, okay? “ Hunk feebly nodded and turned towards his best friend. The two worked together to delicately remove the rest of the rubble around Lance so it would be easier to transport him. Every once in a while, Lance would have a coughing fit, smoke seizing his lungs, and Hunk and Shiro had to talk him through it, offering quiet words of comfort.

Combing through his mind about the Garrison First Aid Lessons he and Lance had always goofed off in, he carefully took off the constricting paladin armor, since he remembered burned skin could swell easily.

After what seemed like an eternity, Coran landed in a small escape pod with a bag of medical supplies and a fold-out stretcher. Wordlessly, he lowered the stretcher and carefully rolled Lance onto it, which still caused Lance to hiss harshly. Grief in his eyes on how the paladin he had come to love as a son had been severely hurt, he made sure Lance was secure and gold Hunk and Shiro to finish up the fire extinguishing. 

————————————

They finally put out the fire. Everyone was eager to get back to the castle to check on their injured friend, Pidge practically chewing off her fingernails in anxiety. Blue made a pitiful whimper as she rocketed towards the castle, towards her paladin. Keith was fidgety, many questions on the tip of his tongue as all of the lions swiftly flew back up to check on their injured friend. 

When the others burst into the medbay, Coran was lowering a now unconscious Lance into a pool of cool water to ease the pain. Pidge basically burst into tears at the sight of her severely charred friend and Keith wanted to stomp on the Galra ship that caused the fire, obliterate it since it caused Lance to get hurt. It was so wrong, looking at his usually talkative self silent and pale in the water. Coran stood up with a heavy sigh. “ He’s going to have to stay like that for a while. I bet you all are wondering how he is, huh? “ Allura, who had her hands clenched over her mouth the whole time, nodded softly and gestured for the paladins to join her in the lounge room. 

“What. Happened. “ Keith gritted out, pacing the floor with his arms clenched at his sides. 

Hunk whimpered and Shiro spoke up. “ We were trying to save some children inside a burning school, when it started to collapse and Lance pushed Hunk out of the way before The whole building collapsed. “ Shiro’s hands were running through his hair, knowing he couldn’t have done anything to prevent it but still searching for something he could’ve done differently so Lance wouldn’t have to get hurt.

Pidge was a mess. They clung to Hunk like he was their only lifeline.. “ What if we can’t fix him? What if he never wakes up? W-What if- “ 

“ Stop. Please. “ Keith snapped, but gave way to a pleading tone. He sat down with a deflated look in his eyes.

Coran twiddled his thumbs, not knowing what exactly to do or say. “ I will go check up on Lance. He will not be put in a cryopod until he is bandaged properly. “ The altean stood up and left the room, leaving everyone else in stressed silence. 

Lance awoke floating in the pool. His eyes adjusting to the new bright light where there was darkness before, he looked to his right and his left to see he was in the castle. He sighed, the water relieving some of the burns. He was about to try moving his limbs when Coran entered the room with a thick roll of gauze, sitting at the edge of the small pool and carefully propping Lance up against a soft chair by the edge of the water. Lance grimaced when a part of his burned skin scraped against the edge of the pool. 

“ Are you feeling any better, Lance? “ Coran inquired, staring to bandage Lance’s left wrist. 

Lance drooped, his energy sapped. “ I dunno. Having a bunch of flaming wood fall on you isn’t the best way to end a mission. “ Every word out of his mouth took effort, and soon he was closing his eyes again, while Coran moved on to wrapping his torso. He could feel Blue once again sending comforting thoughts to his brain, and he instantly felt better, clinging onto those memories.

When he was completely wrapped, the team saw him off before the familiar icy coolness of the cryopod surrounded him.

—————————————

It had been at least 5 days without Lance and the team was so eager to see him again. The days without the Blue Paladin adding color and life to the dull everyday routine were torture. Keith and Pidge snapped at each other often, and most times for very silly reasons. Shiro was drained, spending most of his time resting or making plans with Allura. Coran was left without someone to ramble about Altea and his old life too, making the empty halls emptier. Hunk was despondent, spending all his time either keeping watch over Lance, crying himself to sleep in his room, or sitting in Yellow’s cockpit. Keith trained almost 24/7, and Pidge was practically glued to her computer with nobody to drag her away and make sure she took care of herself. Allura was busy sorting out relations and helping restore the Gro’har civilization, using anything, really, to distract her from the fact Lance was severely hurt. By the end of the 5 days, gifts from many of the school children for saving their friends accumulated near Lance’s cryopod, as well as small tokens from the team. 

When the hiss that meant the cryopod was opening sounded, Shiro carefully positioned himself to catch Lance, who took a little bit to regain consciousness. “ Uh... Wha? What happened? “ Lance steadied himself, using Shiro’s prosthetic as a brace.

“ You almost died again is what happened! “ Hunk wailed, tears already accumulating in his eyes. Pidge joined him, the two closing to hug Lance tight, fearing the feeling of losing him again. 

“ You’re a hero, Lance! You saved children that wouldn’t have gotten out alive if not for you. Just look at all of these gifts of gratitude! “ She gestured to the pile of nicely wrapped presents, pride laced into her words. 

Keith stomped up and grabbed Lance’s stupid, bandaged, face. “ Don’t ever do that again! You scared us all half to death! “ Shiro came up to him and dragged Keith off Lance. “ I think I lost ten years of my lifespan worrying. “ He lamented as Keith whined and struggled against his hold.

Lance chuckled and smiled. He was with his space family now. Everything was alright.

_7 lives left._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shiro kept being autocorrected to Shirt and it was HILARIOUS.
> 
> Giving me suggestions for the story would be greatly appreciated!


	4. Shocking Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god guys; it’s been really long and I’m so sorry, but despite Voltron being over, I’m still taking it upon myself to finally finish this story.

 

Lance hummed, washing the utensils after his and Hunk’s last baking session, the soapy bubbles rising up into the . It had been a while since he was even allowed near the stove, due to the fire incident 4 weeks ago. And yes, he still kept track of Earth time. It was one of the things he could do to have some sense of normalcy in this floating castle ship with mechanical lions that were the resistance against the evil Galra empire across multiple star systems. Before he could get in too deep with that train of thought, the whoosh of a door opening distracted him as none other than Keith stepped into the room.

“Hey man.” Lance waved, and Keith blinked at him, before lifting his hand to give a hesitant wave back. Lance lifted an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. Keith wasn’t much of a talker. “What’re you roaming the castle for?” 

Seeming to snap out of his dazed trance, Keith stuttered out an “U-Um. Just on my way to the training deck, I guess.” Lance sighed harshly. Keith had been acting this way ever since the fire incident. In fact, the entire team acted differently, giving him long stares as if they couldn’t believe he was alive. Of course, after the first two weeks they started cooling off, but sometimes awkward moments like this would happen and Lance wished the team wouldn’t treat him like glass. Which, true, he  _had_ been caught up in some near-death situations, but it was part of the danger. It wasn’t like they didn't scrape against death multiple times. Lance stared, annoyed, ahead of him at the raven, who shuffled his feet and didn’t really meet his eyes. With a exasperated grunt, Lance got up and left the kitchen. He wished everything was back to the way it was supposed to be.

Later, Allura had scheduled a few training sessions and excercises, and Lance was lined up with the others as Coran and Allura showed them a slideshow of what they would be doing. “Okay, paladins! Today we will be putting into practice all the things we’ve covered this Spicolian Movement! Let’s see you try to do Level 17 of the Iulaian Program!” The team let out little groans, remembering how the program sent tons of giant robots with auto-aiming that were extremely painstaking to dismantle. 

After a ton of time of nothing but dodging, shooting in the general direction of the mechanoids, and hoping for the best, since the others were busy with their own mechs to deal with, the Program shut off as a sudden distress signal showed on the castle programming. “Paladins! We are needed in action, head to the bridge with your bayards.” 

The others suited up, and went to the debrief on the bridge, Allura, with a giant screen showing a map of what seemed to be a rock planet. Shiro saluted and started giving a rundown of the situation, “Okay Voltron, so here’s the plan. This plant is called the Felri, and it is filled with extremely hostile crystal beasts. However, these crystals are one of the prime sources of power for many ships. One of the mining bases of the Coalition is based here, and the Galra are in the process of conquering the planet. Our goal is to prevent this from happening. Be warned, the atmospheric layer on the planet is too dense with space debris for any ships to get through, so we’ll have to take an Altean escape pod with all of us instead of our lions and take the Coalition base back. “

Lance’s head was spinning by the end of the information dump, but he nodded anyways. Hunk paled at the thought of crystal beasts, and Pidge was just eager to try out the new adjustments she’d made to that escape pod. They were split up: The Garrison Trio and the Broganes. 

“Seriously? The Broganes?” Keith asked, with a skeptical expression. Lance grinned. Now that was the Keith he was used to. 

“Yeah! Kogane, Shirogane, and you guys are basically blood brothers. It’s an awesome name. Could you do any better?” Keith was about to open his mouth to say some rebuttal until Pidge and Shiro activated the hyper turbine, shutting the coms off in favor of more power. Hunk and Lance shrieked at the sheer amount of G-Force in their faces as Pidge laughed maniacally as they plummeted towards the rocky planet. They ended up crashing into an arch rock formation and making a less than ideal landing. Fortunately, Shiro was able to steer his ship away at the last second, switching the comms back on.

“Is everyone over there okay?” 

Lance hauled himself out of the upside down ship nestled in a cluster of rocks, holding out a hand for Pidge to take. “Yup. Just peachy. I don’t think anyone got hurt badly.” He grunted with the effort of pulling Hunk out next. “Maybe it was a bad idea to eat those last two donuts, Hunk.”, voice straining with effort. “

”Well-“ Hunk protested, as he finally became unstuck, knocking Lance and Pidge over. “We’re all good now, aren’t we? Besides, they were really good. Like, cinnamon, dude!”

Shiro shared a chuckle, having unboarded his ship along with Keith to meet up with the others. “I’m just glad you guys are alright. Now, come on, we’ve got a little ways to go.” He gestured to the ominous looking structure in the distance. 

The others gave little noises of agreement of varying enthusiasm and they set off.

It was not easy avoiding the huge crystal beasts, seeing as they could sense the quintessential power they gave off. Luckily, Allura was able to mask the team’s quintessence, but only for a limited amount of time, so Lance had to endure lots of sprints and close calls while they stalked around, their destination coming closer and closer. 

“Is it just me, or does this situation remind me of that one scene in the original Jurassic Park?” Lance whisper-shouted as a crystal beast akin to a Tyrannosaurus rex roared behind them.

”I’m getting those vibes too, buddy.” Hunk agreed. Keith hushed them as they slipped into the Galra base. 

The halls were quiet. Too quiet. There were barely any guards. Anywhere. Lance had a sinking feeling bubbling in his chest, as they turned another purple-lit corner.

They came across a room with a crystal beast caged in a purple prison, tubes attached to it, crackling once in a while. Pidge whispered softly. “They’re extracting energy from it to power the base.” In response, the cage surged as another primal cry escaped from the beast, falling on deaf ears outside the soundproof room.

Suddenly, the door slammed behind them with a resounding echo, and the paladins were now trapped. Hunk gave out a little whimper as the cage holding the crystal beast flickered off in front of them. Shiro grimaced behind them. “It was a trap.” Realizing that it was caged no longer, the beast stepped menacingly towards the others, cold eyes narrowing. Then, it hissed and leapt. “Go, go, go!” Shiro commanded, dodging the creature as it swiped its claws at him. 

Lance backpedaled, trying to find a way to get the team out and into safety. Keith was busy trying to get Hunk out from under lab equipment the creature had knocked over, and Pidge was fiddling with her hacker keyboard in an attempt to unlock the door. He looked up and saw through a tiny window that galra fighters had surrounded the area. Pidge gave a small cry of victory as the doors opened, and the creature took its chance and leapt out, the paladins rushing for cover, as it broke through the base, making a gaping hole where the structure had been.

In all the commotion, one of the contraption wires had wrapped around his leg, and as he examined it while they ran for cover, the fighters shooting at them relentlessly. “What do we do?!” Hunk wailed as sentries flooded the hallways behind them. 

Keith grunted as he wrenched a door open. “I don’t know, but we’ve got to think of something soon!” He took a random pipe on the ground, and threw it at the sentries pursuing them, making a domino affect that caused them to fall behind.

Lance picked up a discharge bomb as they ran past, an insane plan formulating in his head. “There! The escape pods!” Hunk pressed a few buttons, muttering  ‘please work’ as the pod door opened. Lance paused as the rest of them got in the pod. “Lance?” Hunk prompted, a hand reaching out for him to take. 

“.....I’m sorry, guys.” Lance slammed his hand on the eject button, dashing away as Shiro pulled Hunk’s hand back before the pod closed its door. Keith banged on the glass with his fist, a panicked expression on his face as the pod already powering up for launch as Lance ran toward the control room. 

Lance felt a sweat fall down his brow as he plugged the discharge bomb into the console. There was no way the team was gonna make it out of the atmosphere with tons of galra fleet after them. they didn’t have the hyperspeed Pidge had. He grunted as he took another wire and plugged it into the large vial of crystal energy that had been drained out of the monster. Taking his rifle, he took a deep breath. If this stupid plan were to work, the discharge bomb would cause a giant electric shock while connected to the crystal energy that would disable all the fighters around from chasing the escape pod, which should have already reached quite the altitude.  _I guess all that rambling about electrical fields really did come in handy, Pidge._ He smiled as he shot the energy tank, the electricity exploding around him. 

\- a few minutes before, with the team -

Hunk’s eyes widened as the pod doors closed with a slam, not even registering the fact Shiro had pulled his arm back to avoid it getting crushed. Keith was banging on the door, Pidge covering her mouth her her hands, shocked. The escape pod suddenly lurched, disconnecting from the dock of the base and shooting upwards, fighters turning to follow. Laser shots rocked the pod for a bit, and Hunk closed his eyes as he prepared for them to crash and die a fiery death. It didn’t come. When he opened his eyes, the base was exploding with electrical energy, and he could see the fighter jets shutting down and falling to the ground. As they sped away from the aftermath, still crackling with energy, Hunk curled into himself, eyes glistening with tears.

They barely clunked into the castleship, the mood quiet, as they unboarded, looking a little more than worse for wear. Allura and Coran rushed in, concerned looks on their faces. “Paladins! We were worried, the Galra had rigged the base up to be a trap and had evacuated to the planet’s moon before we arrived!” Allura suddenly came to a slow stop, looking over the paladins. “Where’s Lance?”

\- back to the present -

The blue boy in question was floating in the limbo he seemed to see a lot recently. After a few minutes of suspended silence, where all he could do was stare at the endless void around him, a familiar cracking sound was heard as he opened his eyes. 

His head was pounding, Lance taking a few seconds to just stare up into the sky. How was he alive? A question blared in his mind as he pushed himself up, the wrecked command center around him seeming to double as he reoriented his eyes. Doing an injury check, he mentally checked off the procedure Shiro had taught them. Back? Sore, but okay. Shoulders? Fine. Legs? He kicked them out, trying to dispel the jelly-like feeling inside them. Okay. Arms? He opened and closed his palms. Yup. Looking closer, the bracelet from the cat planet seemed to look different. Holding it up above him, he noticed the heart emblems  changed. His eyes widened when he saw them. A shriveled up one, a burned one, and... a heart crackling with energy. 

Unsettled, he got to his feet and checked his comms. Out. Of course, he thought, as he roamed the wreckage of the Galra base, Bayard transformed in case of threat. 

\- back to the team, or more specifically, Keith. -

Keith’s eyes burned as he got into the pod, hand shaking as he pressed the controls to make it start up again. He was to go back down to the planet to retrieve the working altean escape pod and.... He gulped. Collect Lance’s body, so his family when they got back to earth could give him a proper burial. Keith leaned back in his seat, Red silent in his mind. The galra escape pod that Coran had made minor fixes to without a word was a grim reminder of what recently went down.

Why was he the one who had to do this? He felt the emotions welling up and he tried to push it down with cold rationality. Shiro had been hiding an injury he received from the crystal beast, and had to go into a pod. Hunk, Pidge, and Coran... all of them agreed (by all of them meant Keith, Shiro, and Allura) that it would be too heartbreaking for all of them. Hunk was his best friend, Pidge was too young to suffer a huge burden like that, and Coran thought of Lance as some kind of son. Keith let out a huge breath. Everyone knew that he and Lance weren’t the closest, but he’d never thought he’d be doing.... this. Besides, Lance had even started to cool down on his petty rivalry and they.. maybe they could’ve become friends. Allura had to stay behind and recalibrate the castle, as it took heavy damage while taking down the Galra moon base. 

A little later, he’d hooked up the Altean pod that wasn’t crash-landed and checked to make sure it had enough fuel to make it back. It did, and it was pretty full, so he abandoned the other one and used this pod to hover to the ruins that were the Galra base. He looked over the aftermath, and his hopes that maybe, maybe Lance had somehow survived were dwindling. “You really did go out with a bang, didn’t you?” He said, mostly to himself. He landed on the top of the base, jetpacking down to the rubble to search. 

The control room the beast was in was in shambles. The big container that held the pure energy was shattered. There was no trace of Lance. Keith couldn’t take anymore and he slashed angrily at the command center, the console splitting clean in half. Falling to the floor, he leaned against the wall, and put his head in his hands. He felt like screaming. Suddenly, movement came from outside the door. He tensed, grabbing his Bayard and leaping to his feet. 

Stalking forward, he leapt, seeing red as his sword came down on the stranger. The stranger blocked him but Keith tackles them to the ground before they can react, his Bayard to their neck. His eyes widened as he saw blue. “What-“ 

“Hey, man...?” And there was Lance, cheekily smiling up at him. Keith dropped his sword, stunned. “Can you get off me?” 

Keith nodded, still stricken. “How did you survive?” He ran a hand through his hair, still trying to process the person in front of him.

”Well,” Lance seemed to stare a hole through him. Keith picked up his Bayard, destransforming it. “It’s pretty simple, actually.” Suddenly, Lance rushed up towards him, pinning him to a wall, bayard trained on Keith. “I’m not actually here.” Lance grinned an off-putting grin, his eyes morphing into yellow. Keith snapped out of his shocked daze, punching not-Lance in the face and wrenching his bayard out of his hands, which promptly disappeared into black dust. Not-Lance cackled madly, looking less and less like an actual human. “If you want your blue paladin back, then come find him.” 

Keith retransformed his Bayard in a split-second, driving his broadsword through not-Lance, who morphed into a twisted version of all his teammates before dissipating into dust.

_Six lives left._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RESCUE FAKEOUT! Don’t worry, Lance is still alive, he just is in the clutches of some Druid. I’m not going to make it Haggar since this story doesn’t really connect to canon at all, unless you couldn’t tell.


	5. Knife to Meet You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Apologies, this chapter is a little more bloody and gruesome than the others due to the nature of this death.

The harsh glare of the Galra prison hurt his eyes. Lance closed them again, wincing as the place the guard kicked him in his side ached, the beginning of a bruise forming.  _This isn’t ideal. At least they didn’t take me to get tortured or anything right away._ He sighed, trying to sit up straighter from where he’d been slumped over on the floor. He looked around the small cell. It was almost empty, albeit excepting a thin slot in the door where he assumed food would come. 

 _I bet the team thinks I’m dead,_ he thought, dejected. The electrical explosion was deadly, and apparently he’d survived, despite being the closest to it. He’d survived a lot of things, actually. Being out in dead space without a functioning helmet, having a burning building collapse on top of him..... 

The bracelet he’d been toying with for the past 15 minutes. It’d happened after he received it from that little Lio’mew girl. He had a lot of questions. Was it cursed? Was it the cause of all this or just a happy coincidence? He didn’t get to question it further, because sharp whistles were coming from the cell next to him. 

He opened his eyes sharply, the piercing sound clearing the silence and giving him a headache. “Wha- could you keep it down!? I’m trying to sulk in peace here, you know.” He curled up a bit more in his corner, miffed. A loud bang interrupted his irritation as he scooted up to the slot to get a closer look. What could only be described as a space wolf tackled the guard in front of his gate, snarling menacingly before picking him up by the foot and flinging him away. A loud thump seemed to satisfy the wolf before it seemed to disappear right in front of him, warping into blue sparkles. 

Seconds later, a suited Marmora soldier reappeared with the dog, as it warped back out of the cell. “Good job, Yorak.” The lean Galran (he could tell by their purple clawed hands) ran their hand along its cosmic fur and walked past.

”Uh- hey, a little help here?” Lance squeezed his hand through the slot, which was uncomfortable but hey, gotta do what you gotta do, and waved stiffly in the general direction of the stranger. “Paladin of Voltron needs assistance?”

The stranger seemed surprised. “How did a paladin of Voltron get here?” They whistled, and suddenly the wolf popped up behind him. He whipped around with a yelp. At a closer look, it had piercing yellow eyes and a fluffy blue mane with glowing highlights. Lance wanted to squeal, it was so cute, but he maintained his composure. 

“Good puppy,” he whispered, holding a hand out cautiously. The wolf warily stared at him before nuzzling under his hand and maneuvering under his shoulder. In a flash, he was teleported out of the cell and into the hallway, where the rest of the cells lay. He got a better look at the stranger. She was a girl, he realized, with piercing yellow eyes that seemed to glow in the dark. “Uh, hello, Lance the Blue Paladin at your service!” He saluted, leaning on the wolf for support. God, that bruise  _hurt._

She nodded, already looting the Galra ‘Yorak’ had knocked out. “Krolia. Blade of Marmora. Here, you might need this.” He was tossed his Bayard and armor. “We don’t have much time until the next patrol comes by.” Lance nodded, quickly suiting up, feeling more comfortable in armor again. Well, slightly charred armor, due to the electrical issue. He hadn’t felt Blue in a while. She did have some recalibration to do since the Galra crystal corrupted the castleship, (It was mostly fine now, but you could never be too careful) the sensors on her were dimmed to prevent Galra sabotage of their location. He sighed, knocking a last knee-guard into place before following Krolia. 

The alarms sounded behind them as they were halfway to the hangar through the vents of the ship. Lance shuffled toward on his knees, wincing as he banged his side on the side of the vents. Trying to peer out from behind the wolf, who was stalking with his head bowed, at the map Krolia had up, he sighed as he again got a face full of tail. Suddenly, the vent behind him exploded, sending rubble everywhere as a Galra shouted “There they are! Seize them!”.

Lance set his gun to stun and kicked a soldier in the face that attempted to grab his foot. Yorak grabbed the boy by the scruff and they teleported on the ground behind a corner as they continued to sprint for the exit. Krolia turned a sharp corner and Lance was struggling to keep up as he paused to stun more soldiers behind them. When he finally caught up, lungs heaving, Krolia was hacking into a fighter jet as Lance knelt and took aim. 

Suddenly, a Druid appeared in front of him and his fired gun strayed off-course as the Druid disappeared again. “Trying to play escape, Blue one?” A menacing growl sounded from Yorak as Lance backed up, looking over his shoulder nervously. Suddenly, a barrage of glowing knives with strange engravings came from behind another Galra cruiser, floating on their own. Lance barely put his shield up when a knife dove at him, dangerously close to his face. “Krolia, I’m not sure how much longer I can last out here!” He flinched when five more knives enlodged himself in his shield, the force behind them willing the shield to crack. Suddenly, a knife from behind that had Yorak in its sight pierced Lance’s arm instead when he moved to cover the wolf. The pain was unbearable, the knife twisting in his arm eliciting a pained yell from him. The moment of distraction gave the opportunity for the 5 other knives to get him in the back, piercing through his armor just as the fighter’s jets ignited.

A swift hand pulled him into the ship and the knives suddenly stopped twisting as Krolia blasted a hole through the hangar and into space, away from the Galra warship. Lance was gasping as blood dribbled out of his mouth, and undoubtedly his back and arm. The wounds were stinging, and Krolia hurriedly knelt down to position Lance on his side, so that the handles were not digging deeper. Krolia got a gauze wrap from her suit and started wrapping to staunch the overwhelming red as it flowed out of Lance. Yorak whimpered, unsure what to do as the human bled out in front of him. 

A harsh cough from Lance caused the wounds to shift, immediately adding more blackness to his vision. His head was fuzzy, and the pain was distant as the muffled voice of Krolia seemed to contact somebody. Everything felt numb, and the pain started to fully ebb. In the back of his mind, he knew these were bad signs, a faint memory of First Aid from the Garrison as the teacher told them so, but his mind was blinking out as things swayed in and out of focus. 

He thought he heard a lion roar before a final wracking cough plunged him into darkness.

_Five lives left._


	6. The Absence of Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I will finish this story if it’s the last thing I do! Even though the fandom was let down by the show’s ending we can still celebrate our beloved characters through fan fiction! Don’t let the negativity get ya down!

 

Lance opened his eyes, but instead of the dark, dreary blackness he was expecting, the space around him was filled with stars, twinkling and bright with slight blue undertones adding color to what usually was the empty void. “Huh.” He murmured to himself, gazing at the area around him. A rumbling roar that he knew well caught his attention. 

“Blue! Beautiful, where are we?” He perked up at the sight of his Lion and looked towards her giant mechanical form, sitting in the center of wherever this was. Blue purred as he approached, overwhelming relief filling his mind. 

_My Paladin is in the Astral Plane. Cub gave Blue quite a scare when your quintessence started to disappear. Cub is lucky to have such a powerful charm protecting him._

Astral Plane? Quintessence? Charm? Lance processed the new words and information buzzing around in his head. He wanted to ask some questions, but as he started to walk toward her the overwhelming  _exhaustion_ had crept into his bones, and he found himself sprawled out at Blue’s feet. He stared up into her piercing golden eyes as she laid down, paws on either side of him, purring. 

_I think Paladin deserves a rest after all that._

Lance could only nod in agreement as his eyelids drooped and he was whisked off into a listless sleep.

—————————————————————————————

Eyes fluttering awake, Lance was surprised to find that he was still in the Astral Plane. Blue was curled up around him as he slowly sat up and stretched. He half-yawned “Good space morning Blue! or afternoon... or evening.” He trailed off as he starkly realized there wasn’t really a sunset, sunrise so this place couldn’t be described with earth timestamps. “How long have I been out?” He smoothed out his hair, messy after the nap.

_6 quintants have passed since my Paladin has fallen asleep._

Lance blinked. 

Once. Twice. Maybe Blue was playing a joke on him even though he was sure Lions did not have good senses of humor. 

The silence gave him his answer.

”Six DAYS!? Humans- Humans don’t sleep that long! I’ve never been under for that long! Does the team think I’m dead?! Blue, why didn’t you wake me up? I know we haven’t hung out in a while due to the really long calibration processes, and having nap time with you was really relaxing, but ohmygod I’ve been gone for too long and how am I going to get back and Pidge will kill my kneecaps-“ 

Blue cut him off with an annoyed huff and lightly cuffed him over the head, eliciting a indignant squawk from said paladin.

 _Cub needed the rest. Druid magic was poisoning your quintessence. Needed time to heal._ “Druid magic? What do you mea-“ Lance stops before another torrential rant. “Oh. Ahhh the magical floaty knives. Those.” Blue nods, amused by how easily her human could launch himself into long strings of overlapping words. Her paladin was chatty, and that was just the way she liked it.

”C-Can I go back? Am I just stuck here?” Lance looked up, with big and pleading eyes, as if Blue had the answer to everything. Which, yes, mostly she did. 

 _Of course._ Blue paused, eyes going blank as if she were elsewhere.  _Cub might wake up in an unorthodox position._

Lance only focused on her first two words. “Yeah! Allrighty! Time to return to the land of the living!” He really was energized. He guessed that sleeping for 6 entire days could do that to a person. 

Blue stood up, and gave a fierce roar. Immediately, a small wormhole began to form behind Lance. Lance whooped a cheer and, before leaving, blew one last kiss to Blue before jumping right in. The lion tilted her head curiously as he backpedaled into the portal, waving his hands in goodbye.

Everything went white.

———————————————

Lance awoke to find his entire body sore. He inwardly groaned. Why couldn’t he feel normal like he could in the Astral Plane. His eyes focused and he slightly turned his head from his laying position to see an alien ceiling(?) staring back at him.

Utterly bewildered, he looked down at his own body. He was dressed in a nice navy blue suit, and blue flowers, weird alien seashells, and cards were littered around his body. He ran his hands softly along the wood and the metal hinges. Apparently his mind was lagging behind because his eyes widened when he realized just what was happening.

This was his goddamn funeral. He was in a flipping coffin.

Suddenly, his ears stopped ringing and he could make out the murmurs outside his coffin if he pressed his ear to the very edge of the coffin. A deep, somber voice rang out, silencing the mutters and whispers, “Let us all rise for the passing of the Late Blue Paladin.” Immediately, he could hear people shifting as they stood up. 

“Today is a day of grief and sorrow, as one of the protectors of the universe has fallen for his sacrifice that have saved countless lives. His former teammates have arrived to give a brief eulogy before we start the burial process.”

Footsteps. He knew those footsteps. Hunk’s slow, careful steps, Pidge’s small, barely heard, Coran’s exaggerated movements, Allura’s tactful stride, Keith’s flighty but driven, Shiro’s purposeful and strong. His heart clenched as he heard Hunk sniffle as they stopped. Pressing his ear to the wood even more, he listened. 

First was Allura, the princess herself. “The Blue Paladin, known to us, his team, as Lance Mcclain, was a compassionate and excitable soul who always valued others over himself. Although at times his work may go unnoticed, he was always and always will be..... t-the heart of Voltron.” Lance didn’t miss the slight shake to her voice or the way she almost faltered at that last sentence.

Next was Coranic the Mechanic. “Lance was like a son to me. He was joyful, curious, and most of all, he held an undeniable love for all his teammates, his friends, his family. He called me his Space Uncle, and I will always treasure the gifts he gave me. A soul like his is hard to find these days.” Lance could feel himself blinking tears out of his eyes. Coran really thought so highly of him? 

Shiro was next. “Lance gave the team a sort of energy that inspired all of us. Despite how young he was, thrown into this war without warning or choice, he adapted into his role quickly and was the main support system. “ Lance swears he can hear Shiro’s metal hand tighten on the paper. “He was a brave and noble soldier, who died to save all of us. He will not be forgotten.”

Pidge, oh,  _Pidge._ “Lance was, in more ways than one, my brother. Every day he would look out for us, cheer us up with his jokes and smiles, make sure we ate and slept, and I know he would always have our back. “ Pidge’s is short and blunt and he can hear how her voice tightens, as if she’s holding back. Lance rolls a round shell over and over in his hands, itching to just push the coffin up and reveal himself.

Keith is next. “Lance and I used to be at odds. Over time, we grew to tolerate each other. I-I didn’t know him as well as maybe the others did, but he was someone I could trust when my life was on the line. I never knew how much I appreciated his company, and his teasing.” Lance droops as he hears the stuttering. Maybe he should get to know Keith better. Lance thinks back to all the times he pushed the other teen away due to his envy and unexplained animosity.

And the last member of his beloved team is  _Hunk._ His buddy, his right hand man, and so much more. Lance can feel the dread welling up in his throat. “Lance was my best friend. Through thick and thin, he’d always be there. Through the good, the bad and the ugly, he never left my side. We spent many nights together rambling about anything and nothing, and th-those are some of my f-favorite...” Hunk’s voice hitches in a sob. 

Lance draws the line at a choked up Hunk. He places both his palms on the coffin lid and pushes as hard as he can so the darned thing flips open. The gathering emits a collective gasp and a few screams are heard as Lance sits up, looking at his team, tears freely flowing from his eyes. All Lance can muster is a choked up “Guys...” before he’s tackled by Hunk, sucessfully followed by the rest of the team. Choked sobs and hysterical laughter bleed together into one as he pulls them all closer as more hands tighten around him.

”I’m glad to be back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve decided to count last chapter’s death as two deaths since I wanted to give a tiny more time between the deaths. One for blood loss, one for Druid magic draining his quintessence.


End file.
